Kids Outdoor Zone (KOZ) is a Boys Outdoor Ministry for your church and community
KOZ provides men of the church with training and curriculum for an outdoor ministry with boys. Once they are trained, the men host an event one half-Saturday a month that includes outdoor skills, biblical manhood, and mentoring.
Today 40% of boys in our nation do not have a dad living at home and every spiritual, physical, and mental health statistic deteriorates when a kid doesn’t have a dad in the home.
Today the average kid spends 70 hours or more per week in front of a digital screen. This compares to 40 minutes per week in the outdoors. The effects of digital dependences are decreased attention span, increased obesity, increased cases of mental health issues, depression, etc. Today recent studies show health issues in our boys from quarantine and seclusion that mirror PTSD symptoms.
Mentoring matters! Every socioeconomic and health statistic improves when a boy gets a mentor. Substance abuse, school drop-out, teenage pregnancy, etc. A Big Brothers/ Big Sisters study found that mentoring 4 hours per month improves a child’s decision making throughout adolescence.
The boys are drawn in by the outdoor adventure which provides the men with the opportunity to train, mentor, and disciple them.
This is a spiritual battle that requires God’s men to step in. Boys need men to show them biblical masculinity.
A man’s love, knowledge, and skills of the outdoors and your Christian faith are a perfect combination to mentor this generation of boys.
KOZ can help men turn their burden for the boys, into a life changing reach into their live
CURRENTLY:
Kids Outdoor Zone was launched nationally in 2013 at Wildfire Weekend in Lynchburg VA
Since 2013, KOZ has trained over 550 men in over 100 churches in 22 states and Canada!
Over 2,700 men have expressed an interest in learning more about KOZ
(These stats are as of June 2020)
AVAILIABLE:
TJ GREANEY Founder/Smithville, Texas
RICK MAGEE C.O.O./Lynchburg, VA
Call 512-292-1113
BOOKS, GEAR, TOOLS:
Year 13: A wounded boy’s journey to manhood and ministry
TJ Greaney was raised in Houston, Texas. In the early years, life seemed ideal for a young boy. The neighborhood bayous, woods, tall grass, and trees held endless adventures. Go-carts, BB guns, hammers, and camping seemed more the norm than not.
Brokenness crept into his life when his parents divorced when he was 13. His mom moved 1000 miles away and his father disappeared with a bottle of rum. 13-year-old TJ chose living on the streets. L
ife became a dangerous game. Drugs, jail, and bad decisions pursued him at every turn. While wandering those streets, God placed a marker in his heart.
Eventually TJ was led to a 12-step program where he began a journey out of the darkest place he thought would be his legacy. It was then that Christ began to reveal to him how the broken pieces were t
he exact things He would use for Kingdom work in his life. “All the hurts and hardships are the training ground,” Greaney explains. “Not every guy is designed to teach a Sunday school class. Men want to do something of significance, to be a part of a battle for Jesus—we just don’t always know how. I pray this book helps men launch into that place in their life.”
TJ is the past Pr
esident of the Texas Outdoor Write
rs Association, published a Texas lifestyle magazine for 20 years, and hosts the #1 outdoor radio show in Texas.TJ Greaney is founder of Kids Outdoor Zone, the fastest growing church ministry for boys. Leaders use hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure as an outreach tool for the fatherless boys and fathers and sons in their community and church.
Walking on Uneven Ground: Why Kids Outdoor Zone is a critical ministry for today. TJ Greaney/Rick Magee
The Outdoor Ministry for Boys from a Man’s Heart. Often the men who love the outdoors and hear God there don’t know how or where that may fit into their walk with Jesus. The outdoo
rs was where Jesus Himself went to be close to His Father. It is also where He trained His closest men. He mentored them on mountains, lakeside, by campfires, and walking dusty roads. KOZ came from the revelation that boys need Godly mentors, that boys long to know the ancient arts of the outdoors and the path to healthy manhood. We realized too that the time with the boys profoundly affected the men who chose to be a part of KOZ. They found meaning and purpose. They came alive. This book offers the elements of how and why KOZ works. Why men and boys grow in their relationship with Jesus and with each other -- Walking on Uneven Ground.
Basecamp: A 7-week Bible study for men seeking His will for them.
Men struggle today with so many things in our world today. They isolate, minimize the need for other men and Jesus in their lives. Many men don’t know how to love their wives well, train their kids, lead their families. They long for it in their hearts but struggle to tread the trail that leads to the summit. This Bible study is a simple study by two friends. Two guys who long to hear Jesus speak and teach them how to do this life the best they can. In the end, in every man’s heart he has the same question, “Did I live well? Did I love well? Did I honor Jesus and all He gave me?” Take a few weeks, ride this trail with TJ Greaney and Joe Don Mayes and see if God doesn’t help you find some trail markers that you long for.
TJ Greaney is founder of Kids Outdoor Zone Boys Outdoor Adventure Ministry. Joe Don Mayes is a retired pastor of 40-years in Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Colorado and Austin, Texas.